Freelance Writer Books

Every month, I join up with a bunch of other great bloggers to bring you a themed entertainment hop. I think you’ve figured that out by now, right? This month, we’re focusing on Labor Day. I struggled with the theme for a bit, because really, I don’t read a whole lot of books about jobs. Then I looked at my bookshelf and realized I have a boatload of books that helped me in both my freelance writing life and blogging life. So today I’m sharing 5 of my favorite books that every freelance writer (or blogger) needs on her (or HIS!) bookshelf!

5 Freelance Writing & Blogging Books You Absolutely Want

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Freelance Writing Jobs: 101+ Online Writing Jobs by Lee Mellot

Freelance Writing Jobs 101

Lee is absolutely brilliant. She has more than half a dozen books on how to make money at home, but this is one of my favorites. She keeps it updated and shares loads of sites for everyone from beginners to pros. She also teaches you how to avoid scams (trust me, there are oh so many out there), organize your writing schedule and make sure you get paid fairly for your work. The book is free on Kindle Unlimited or just $2.99 for non-members.

 

ProBlogger: Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

ProBlogger

I read this book so many times when I first started blogging. Will it really help you earn $100K+ on blogging? Probably not. That’s actually not all that common. Still, it’s filled with great tips to help you learn to better your craft along the way. It’s not exactly “new” information to those who have been around for a while, but it’s definitely a great place to start learning.

On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing

I don’t care if you’re a fiction writer or a niche “best toasters ever” writer; if you’ve read every King novel or never even so much as flipped a page of one of his tomes, On Writing is a must-read for anyone who puts pen to paper (or pixels to screen). It’s part autobiography, yes, but it’s also filled with gems for aspiring writers of any kind. Fan or not, you have to admit, King knows what he’s doing!

AP Style Guide

AP Style Guide

A required book when I was a journalism student, I still keep it on my shelf now. Writing for mass consumption online is a bit different than writing for a newspaper, but the AP Style Guide is still a must-have in my opinion. It also helps keep you up to date on media laws, like defamation and libel (there is a HUGE difference between libel and slander, something people seem to misunderstand often).  I’ve never claimed to be a perfect writer, but the AP Style guide definitely gets me a little closer to that professional (yet totally attainable) style we all crave in our posts.

A composition notebook

composition

Any blank notebook will do, but these are great because you can’t rip the pages out. Why does that matter? Because then you can’t rip out your ideas. I have a problem where I write down a whole bunch of stuff, then think “that just sucks” then get rid of it. Later, I think “I could have done something with that!” So now, I write somewhere that is harder to destroy. Then I can go back and look at it later with fresh eyes and see if I can rework ideas that I thought were bad. Every writer NEEDS at least some type of blank notebook!

A quick search on Amazon will net you thousands of different books on writing, with sub-cats on everything from fiction to blog posts to 140-character tweets. These are the books that I recommend most highly because they either update regularly or just plain never go out of style.

For more Labor Day related entertainment, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

Do you have any favorite books for your particular job? Tell me about them in the comments!